JEPSON

2,7 53,583 GROOMING DEVICE

Ivar ilepson, flak Park, Ill., assiguor to Sunbeam Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois

Application February 15, 1951, Serial No. 211,060 3 Claims. (Cl. 15-==246)

The present invention relates to a grooming device or mechanism and is particularly concerned with a grooming attachment for a motor unit which may be used to drive numerous other devices such as clippers, shears, drills and the like.

For many years there has been a need for an all purpose power brush or grooming device for farm animals, particularly horses and cows. The customary way of grooming cattle has comprised using a hand brush and hand curry comb, which was a time consuming process and as a result, cattle and particularly dairy cattle, did not get the grooming which has been found to be desirable for promoting good health of the animals as well as an improved appearance. It would be desirable to provide a grooming device which is capable in a simple manner without much work on the part of the operator to produce a desirable bloom to animal’s coats by bringing out the natural oils of their skin. Such a device should, moreover, etliciently clean the animal’s coats by removing loose hair as well as imbedded dust and dirt. With such a device, therefore, it would be possible to not only impart a lustre to the hair, but in addition the animal’s skin is massaged to maintain it soft and pliable, all of which tends, in addition to producing a much more desirable appearance, to promote general all around health. There have been available on the market clipping and shearing devices which have been extensively used and which employ a suitable electric motor for driving the same. Such an arrangement is disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,268,035, Jepson, granted December 30, 1941, and assigned to the same assignee as the present application. In that Jepson patent the motor unit is built within a casing which serves as the handle which is attached to one end to a suitable clipping and shearing device. it would be desirable if such a device were provided in which the clipping and shearing head could be removed in a simple manner and replaced with the grooming device of the present invention whereby the function of both devices could be retained without the expense of two completely separate motor units.

lt will be appreciated that a power grooming device will of necessity comprise a power driven brush of some sort which will raise dust and hairs imbedded in the animal’s coat. lt is desirable to provide an arrangement in which such dust and hairs are shielded from the operator as well as from the animal being groomed so that the material removed from the animal’s coat is not permitted to drop back onto the coat. Consequently, not only a shielding device is desirable, but a device for catching and retaining the removed particles from which they can be periodically removed in simple manner.

With any power driven grooming brush the problem of removing foreign material firmly imbedded within the animal’s coat or hair sometimes presents a difficult problem and it would be desirable to provide in the grooming device a portion thereof which will permit more ready removal of such material thereby to permit the power driven brush mechanism to function efiiciently.

2,753,583

Patented July 104, 1956

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Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a grooming device especially adapted for grooming animals such as cattle, horses and the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a grooming device which is adapted to be attached to a motor which may also drive other appliances such as clippers, sheep shears, power drills and the like.

Still another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved shielding mechanism for a power driven grooming device whereby not only is the operator shielded from dust and foreign material removed from the coat of the animal being groomed, but in addition this material is caught and retained so as to prevent it from falling back on the coat being groomed.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of a power driven grooming device including rotatable brush elements which may readily be replaced when such replacement is necessary and which are designed to give the maximum grooming action.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a combined shield and curry comb for a power driven grooming device.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of a power driven grooming device including a reduction gear mechanism between the prime mover and the rotating grooming mechanism having a dimension such as not to interfere in any substantial way with the grooming action of the power driven grooming mechanism whereby a maximum continuous area may be covered by the device.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularly in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the present invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the grooming device of the present invention with the prime mover for driving the same shown in dotted lines to illustrate the fact that the grooming device may comprise one of several attachments driven at different times by the same prime mover such as an electric motor;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view, partly in section, of the grooming device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2, assuming that Fig. 2 shows the complete construction;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the complete grooming unit including the prime mover for driving the same, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-—5 of Fig. 1 with certain portions cut away to illustrate the simple means by which the comb and shield of the present in~ vention is attached to the grooming device and also how the grooming device is attached to the prime mover.

Briefly, the present invention is concerned with a power driven grooming device comprising a pair of rotating brushes between the adjacent ends of which the reduction gear mechanism for driving the brushes is disposed, said reduction gear mechanism taking up a very small space so that by displacing the end bristles of the brushes, sufiicient overlap of the gear housing is obtained to give substantially complete coverage as far as the brush is concerned. Attached to the mechanism for supporting and driving the grooming brushes is a shield device which completely shields the operator from particles removed by the grooming brushes and which additionally includes a dust catching device which tends to remove the dirt particles and the like from the brushes and catch and retain them until removed by the operator. Addition~

mentioned Jepson-Patent 2,268,035, and also in many respects similar to the motor‘ of the device described in copending Jepson application Serial No. 8579, filed February l6, 1948, now Patent No. 2,664,626, January 5, 1954, and also assigned to the same assignee as the present application. This copending application shows a motor unit similar to that disclosed in the present applicationcmployed to drive a hedge trimmer inidcating a still further appliance or device which might comprise an attachment for the motor 11.

As illustratedrin the drawings, the motor unit 11 comprises a housing 13~ preferably formed of a molded plastic or the like which is provided on its sides with a knurled surface such-as 14 to provide a ready hand grasp

for the operator in manipulating the particular attach- "

mcnt associatedwith and driven by the motor unit 11. The casing 13 iszpreferably a cylindrical elongated casing readily graspable by the operator so as effectively to define a handle for the appliance driven by the motor, which appliance is attached to one end of the motor housing as described in greater detail hereinafter. To the end opposite that to which the appliance being driven by the motor» unit 11 is associated, there is preferably attached a=power driven cord 16 electrically connected

to the motor of the motor unit 11 and adapted to be ‘

connected, in the conventional manner to any suitable electricalioutlet. The motor unit 11 is preferably a universal motor so that it may be- driven by a source of direct current as, well as asource of alternating current energy. The exterior of, thehousing 13 preferably has applied thereto a-suitable on-offswitch actuator 17'whereby a suitable switch. controlling the supply of electrical energy to the motor within the housing 13 may be controlled.

The grooming attachment 12 of the present invention comprises a suitable housing 19~for housing the driving mechanism: for transmittingethe motion from the motor or prime mover 11 to-the power driven grooming mechanism including rotatable brushes to be described hereinafter. As-illustrated,‘.the housing 19 comprises preferably at die: cast unit ofialuminumor other light metal hav

ing a- l)OI‘il(JI1\19(l shaped" to-conform to the end of the

motor unit Ht for ready attachment thereto by a pair of screws 20,.b6SliSl10\V'l1:_l11' Fig, 5~of thedrawings. The motor unit 11, as is illustrated best in Fig. 3 of the drawings, comprises: amotor shaft whichextends slightly beyond the end of-the housing 13.-and includes aspiral gear l’or»' driving‘ any suitable attachment which may be appliedrto the end of the motor unit 11. The housing portion 1911 described above is provided with a suitable. recess 23: for. receivingtherein the spiral. gear 22, Wl'1lCl'1' in turndrivingly» engagesa gear 24&rnounted on theend of a worm shaft 25. The recess 23 already described at the cnd*of*-' the housing section l9~ adjacent the motor unit*1*1‘ is sufficiently large to" also receive-»the~gear 24.

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The housing section 19 includes a narrow forwardly extending portion 19b including an upper, somewhat tubular portion 19c for receiving therein the worm shaft 25. This tubular portion 19c is open at both ends to make it easier to die cast the housing 19 in view of the rather extensive length of this tubular portion 19c and, furthermore, to permit accurate reaming of the same to receive a plurality of. bearing members 26, 27 and 2-3 clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The Worm shaft 25 with the gear. 24' attached thereto may be inserted into the tubular portion 19¢ from the right hand end as viewed in Fig. 3 of the drawings, and the recess 23 closed by‘ a suitable closure plate 30 which has an opening 31 therein’ to receive the end of the motor shaft and the spiral gear 22 drivingly connected thereto. The worm shaft 25 includes a worm gear section 25-rz which is disposed between the bearings 26 and 27 while the bearing 28 effectively acts as the bearingfor the portion of worm shaft 25 adjacent gear 24.

The worm 25a is so designed to cause an end thrust toward the right, as viewed»ini.Fig_. 3 of the drawings. In order to provide a suitable thrust bearing for this end thrust, the end of the worm shafts 25 is provided with a conical recess 25b for receiving therein aisuitable thrust bearing 34. The thrust‘ bearing~34 is preferably pressed partially into the conical; recess 2512. As illustrated, the recess 25b is filled with suitable lubricating material, and in order that this lubricating material may be transmitted to the thrust surface, the thrust bearing 34 is provided with a suitable longitudinalipassageway 35 for receiving therein a~ Wick 36 serving to transmit the lubricant through the thrust bearing and against the thrust surface. The thrust bearing 34, moreover, bears against the end plate 39 already describedfor closing the recess 23 adjacent the motor unit 11;

For thepurpose oftransmitting the torque from the worm 25:1 tea suitable rotating device for grooming cattle or the like, there is provided a gear 37 mounted on an elongated. shaft 38' journaled in suitable bearings 3% and 49 supported within the housing section 19b of the die cast housing 19. It will be observed particularly from Figs; 2. and= 4 of the drawings that the die cast housing portion 19b isrelatively narrow in the direction of the longitudinal axis" of the elongated shaft 38, the purpose of which=wi1l become apparent as the following description proceeds.

It will be obvious that the gears 23, 24, worm 25a and gear 27 should.-be-well lubricated to insure long life of the mechanism» and" accordingly the housing 19 is adapted to be filled with lubricant through a suitable lubricant openingwhich is closed. by a closure such as screw 40.» To preventlubricant from escaping through the open end oft thetubular portion;19c of the housing 19, there is provided.a suitable closure cap 41 which may be pressedinto-place if desired. Likewise, to prevent lubricant from escaping. from the gear housing 19 Where the shaft 38 protrudes from‘ either side of the housing, there are provided suitable sealing washers 45 which are held in place by cover plates 46 pressed on to bosses integrally formed with the housing 19; It may

be observed, as best shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings,

that the housing 19'includes a cover portion 47 which is attached to the main housing portion 19 by suitable screws or fastening, means not shown in the drawings. This cover portion provides the boss for receiving the bearing 39 and one of the end caps 46 which, moreover, affords access to the. gear 37 andpcrmits initial assembly of the gear shaft 38 and: attached gear 37.

In accordance with. the- present invention, the ends of shaft 38.protruding-gfromthe housing:13-driving-ly support a pair of grooming; brushes: 4-9"and 50; As illus

trated in the drawings, each1of= theselgrooming brushes"

are identical. andcomprise" as central hub portion 51L of a suitable‘ moldedi plastic-‘ sueh* as cellulose acetate orthe like which have-~~rnolded* therein'»in‘-spacedrows tufts